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Saturday, January 8, 2011

﻿At 19 weeks pregnant, we had an ultrasound done and were told my fluid levels were too high around Tayler. We were then sent for another ultrasound at 24 weeks pregnant where they were checking for high fluid levels. At my 26 week check up, we were told that Tayler had choloroplexus cysts on her brain and we were being sent to the Ohio State Medical Clinic for another ultrasound, measurements, and to see if the cysts were getting smaller or larger.

During the next week or so, I began praying for a miracle. During some prayer time, God told me that my mom was going to have a dream. I waited all day the next day, with no word from my mother. At 8:30AM the next morning, I woke up to 3 text messages from my mom. The very first words of the text message said "I have to tell you this dream I had last night...." I knew right then that Tayler was going to be okay! My mom had a dream of Tayler and me in the delivery room. She was just born- with chubby, full, rosy cheeks and such a sweet, beautiful face. I knew right then that Tayler was going to be okay, but inside, I felt like I needed a little more confirmation....

And then a few days later, God spoke to me in such a sweet voice and said, "Pray that when you walk through that door, the cysts will be gone... Pray that the doctors will be shocked." And so I asked for others to pray the same prayer.

Today, we walked into the OSU Medical center and went back for our ultrasound. The ultrasound technician started scanning Tayler's body. She checked her heartbeat-- a solid 146 :) And then she moved on to the brain. She started making measurements and she said "I would like to show you what we are talking about..." and she showed us where the cholroplexus was and told us if there were cysts present, there would be black spots. And then she said those magical words, "I don't see anything.... no cysts at all." I started crying! That was the answer to our prayers!

God is SO amazing! He really does hear our prayers and answer them! I am so happy and so relieved. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of our shoulders! Thank you to everyone that has been praying. Sorry I didn't fill very many in these past few weeks-- it was just a personal "obstacle" we were meant to face... and God took us through <3 I am SO thankful and feel SO blessed!

﻿And to document that, I have 5 of her ultrasound pictures :)

(A profile picture-- and that hand is ALWAYS above her head, haha!)

(There's a foot!)

(Both of her feet together!)

(Her hand is on her head... her parents are already giving her a headache LOL)

﻿(Another profile picture hehe!)

It was so relieving to receive some GREAT news :) After the ultrasound, we picked up my brother Corey and went to breakfast at Bob Evans. We had a great time and had a funny waiter named Dan. After breakfast, we dropped Corey off, and headed home. Mom and Dad took us back to our vehicle and we drove to Sprint. See, I don't have service in the village we live, so we decided that it would be a good idea if I joined Ethan's plan and cancel my plan with my parents. Which also means I GOT A NEW PHONE! I LOVE it so much and I'm so thankful for it! Here's a few shots of it:

(The phone turned off.. and my new case!)

(And the phone turned on... LOVEEEE IT :))

(And the back of it :) Such a nice case!)

We had such a good day! We came home, cuddled up, saw it snowing outside, and watched "The Cotton Bowl" hehe!

Friday, January 7, 2011

So, I might have a BIT of an obsession with buying clothes for Tayler. Can you blame me? haha! She's too cute already and little girls clothes are way too adorable to resist them. PLUS, Old Navy had a killer sale-- I HAD to :) This is the little shirt she got... and here are the leggings that match:

How cute, right? And OF COURSE, I got her a onesie too. Mom, don't shoot me. [I was told to stop buying things, hahahahaha]

﻿

And guess what we got in the mail today? A card from my grandma congratulating us on our marriage! How sweet, right? She is so cute, hehe!

And I got my hands dirty today... okay, or maybe clean? haha and cleaned out the fridge. We've been renting one from Aarons and we are ready to put our new fridge in.... which requires cleaning and throwing away gunk, haha!

﻿Oh yes, it looks SO much better now! :)

And then Makala came over! We watched "Ghost Whisperer" and went to Subway. And when we came home-- she hooked up her Xbox and we played some "Call of Duty." I did terrible, but they let me wear a cool headset, haha!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

It was a happy day in our household today. Why you might be asking? I GOT A NEW LAPTOP! Eeeeek! I am so beyond excited! I haven't got a new-new laptop (with all the bells and whistles) in quite a long time so I was pretty excited to see this perty thing come through my door :) Do ya like it?

﻿And here's a lovely side view :)

﻿I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT :)

And I got a new "Jesus" ring today, too! Somehow my "Jesus" ring that I've worn on my left thumb for about 4 years disappeared and I've never been able to find it! So, I got a new one. It's just kind of my comfort, you know? I love it so I got a replacement and boy do I feel better, haha!

﻿Once I finally got myself put together, haha, I made dinner for Ethan and me :) We had Santa Fe Chicken over rice and beans. It was YUMMY! I had one plate and Ethan had like 3, haha! I'd say he liked it ;) LOL

﻿After dinner, we went to the store and guess what?? ETHAN LET ME DRIVE HIS TRUCK, haha! I was super nervous, but I drove it to the store and back, whoohooo! Here's me in the big boy truck!

Oh and guess what? My sweet precious Tayler had the hiccups for the first time EVER today! It was the neatest thing, haha! Very rhythmic... Gosh, I love this girl!

A little over 13 weeks until she's here! :)

While we were at the store, I bought some Raisin Bran. Yes, I was craving it and yes, I enjoyed it!

And while enjoying this cereal, we watched "Toy Story 3" hehe! SUCH a cute movie! I got a little choked up even when the mom was breaking down because Andy was going to college-- I started thinking about how fast time flies, how fast I grew up, how fast my sweet Tayler will grow up. Boo! lol

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

I spent a great deal of my day working on maternity picture ideas (I will not be revealing any, haha... you'll just have to wait and see :) Only 17 more days... yay!) and I worked on our "birth plan" today and got that completed! Oh, it's kind of stressful... at least for me, haha. It makes me super nervous LOL But I got it done, I know what I want to happen, and we're set to go on that matter! :)

And then-- -it was SUGAR BOWL time :)

Ohio State vs. Arkansas. We were ready to root on our Buckeyes!

We had over some people too and had some yummy food-- pizza, chips, and pop! Here's Carrie and Matt:

[That's preggo #1 if you remember correctly. She's due end of March and has 12 weeks left to go :)]

And here's Kyra and Austin:

[That's preggo #2 hehe- She's due beginning of March and has about 8 weeks left.]

And here's Ethan and me-- he had say "we're #1" lol

[And there's preggo #3, haha. I'm due beginning of March and I have 13 weeks left to go!]

We had such a good time :) We laughed, told stories... oh gosh, I could go on and on, haha!

And guess what? Even though everyone left because the game was on entirely too late and we're all old foagies, haha ;) THE BUCKEYES WON!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

I spent most of my morning cleaning this house. As much as I absolutely ADORE the holidays, they created a tornado in my house, haha! It was time for the whole place to be scrubbed down, mopped, and cleaned... and that's exactly what I did. I cranked up the music (channel 901-- they play all the latest hits) and got to doin' mah thang! Ethan called while I was working and was like "What the heck? Is there a party there?" HAHA! Nah, momma just likes some tunage while she's workin' her hiney off!

And after cleaning, I got a shower, and got ready-- and guess what? I thought I looked super "mommy-like" today, haha! You tell me, k?

Can you believe our 3rd trimester starts Thursday? Because I can't. Time has seriously flown!

I also had time to work on the picture frame Ethan bought me. It's digital and holds up to 1,000 pictures :) I LOVE it. I got all of my pictures organized and finally got them uploaded to the picture frame. It's GORGEOUS!

And then once Ethan got home, we headed out to get his new truck. I am SO beyond thankful for this truck! Right now, he drives a '91 Nissan Sentra and while it's a nice car, it is not safe in the snow. It's too light and the fact that he drives over an hour to work a day and an hour home.... makes me super nervous when it's icy and snowy! PLUS, I didn't want him driving Tayler around in it either, haha! Now, we have plenty of room in the back seat for her car seat and it's safe! Ethan loves it. We are SO blessed, it's insane! :) Here's a few pictures of the interior:

Monday, January 3, 2011

I woke up this morning with the worst cold-- EVER. I had no voice, coughing, runny/stuffy nose... it was ridiculous, haha! I hadn't felt so sick in theee longest time. But guess what? I have an amazingly awesome hubby that went to Walmart and bought me a Vicks Humidifier :) It works wonders, let me tell you!

And he is also an amazing hubby because he let me lay on the couch with tons of blankets and my humidifier while he took down the Christmas decorations :) Our house looks so different now, haha! Now-- he has to get those boxes out ;) LOL

I am so thankful for him and all of his hard work :)

As the day progressed, I started feeling better, so Arena, Jon, Ethan, and I went to the Texas Roadhouse... mmm, one of my favorites! I got the Country Veg Plate-- what I ALWAYS get :) haha! I had a salad with ranch, a loaded baked potato, apple sauce, and green beans. Yummy :) Here's a shot of Ethan and me getting ready to leave:

Sunday, January 2, 2011

He was a blessing-- and God knew that I needed him in my life. I had finally found my best friend. We knew instantly, too. Sometimes you meet somebody and you know that whatever you did before, it must have been right.... nothing could've been too bad or gone too wrong because it led you to this person.... that's how I felt. All the struggles of 2009 were worth it as long as it brought me to him. And, I would go through it all over again... I know it sounds cliche, but my life has been blessed. That is for sure.

We learned about one another in 2010-- our likes, our dislikes, our tempers, our frustrations, our goals, our dreams. I remember when I first started really talking to Ethan, I read him a book I had been working on for years.... and a book that I hadn't let anyone else read... Sure, my nerves got the best of me, but there was just something about him... And after hearing it night after night on the phone before bed, he started encouraging me to write a book for others to read.

And that's what I did. God opened an amazing door for me and on December 21st, 2010-- I officially became a published author. This book was available for others to purchase! A dream came true...

In 2010, I was still a student as well. I enrolled in graduate school in September 2009 and was working towards getting my degree in "Distance Learning Education" this year. I want to one day be an online teacher/professor and help those students that NEED an online education as opposed to a traditional education. I know where they are coming from and it is my desire to help them as much as I can! So 2010 was a year of continuing education.

And since I was still in school... and since Ethan and I were absolutely in LOVE with one another.. we decided in April 2010 that I would move in with him. Of course, we got some looks, haha. We'd only been dating for about 3.5 months, but let me tell you-- when you know, sometimes you just know. Ethan worked hard on moving things around in his apartment to accommodate me, he called Time Warner and got wireless internet installed... he went above and beyond so I'd be comfortable and "at home." It took a lot of time to transition into "roommates" but we did it... we had our fair share of disagreements and arguments, but it made us stronger.

I missed my family a lot in 2010. Moving out had to be one of the toughest things I've ever done, as crazy as that might sound. My family is tight knit and the fact that I didn't give my mom and dad a huge good night every night weighed on my heart. There were nights I cried. But honestly-- I knew it was something I had to do. I had to become independent. We've got a good routine now where I see my family at least once a week (usually a lot more, haha) but it has really become exciting, hehe! I love living on my own because I never take a single second with them for granted!

On July 26th, 2010-- I found out Ethan and I were expecting. Oh my lanta, haha! 7 months into dating and we're pregnant! That was a tough thing to tell everyone in my life, let me tell you. I was so scared, haha! I remember taking test #1, then test #2.. and before I knew it, I was on test #8 and guess what? THEY WERE ALL POSITIVE. Holy cow! What was I going to do? haha! I finally told my parents, my siblings... Ethan told his mom, his siblings. On August 13th, 2010, it was confirmed by the doctor's office. "You are pregnant, sweetie" was what the RN said :) And so our journey began..

Everything in my world changed from the day I saw two lines on that pregnancy test. Where I once was chowing down on pizza for breakfast, I was now hanging over the porcelain throne and attempting to keep down pretzels and 7-Up. Where I once popped chocolates left and right, I was now taking Prenatal Vitamins. Where I was once had the occasional alcoholic beverage, I was now living off of lemonade, 7-Up, and lots of water :) This little baby became my priority. No more heavy lifting, no more late nights (not for health reasons-- because I was no longer capable of such things, hahaha!) I started seeing my belly grow, week by week. I started getting over the dreaded morning sickness I faced. I started having a glow...

And on October 16th, 2010 we found out this sweetheart was a precious baby girl. And once again, our whole world changed. We started buying PINK... everything. We started painting her bedroom in black, white, and hot pink polka dots. We picked a name-- Tayler Serenity. Daddy started singing to my tummy even more.... I started feeling the "flutters" of her first movements, that soon progressed to kicks. We started taping her actions, singing to her, reading to her. We bought her crib, her changing table... we got bouncers and a swing and lots of clothes. This little girl rocked our world.

On December 28th, 2010-- Ethan and I dropped another bomb on our families, haha! We got married... on a whim. We bought our rings, got our marriage license, and had the mayor of Dresden read us our vows. We made a commitment before God (and Tayler-- our only witness, haha) that we would love each other, cherish each other, and be faithful to one another for the rest of our lives. We've talked about getting married for the longest time, but we wanted it to be something WE did for ourselves. I didn't want a big wedding-- I get too nervous, haha! But I wanted my name to be "Alyssa Bay" on Tayler's birth certificate. I wanted us to have that-- the Bay family to be unified :)

And here I am-- December 31st, 2010-- looking back on how much my life has changed this year. If you would have asked me December 31st, 2009 what I thought would happen in 2010, I guarantee you my answer wouldn't be: moved out, wrote a book, conceived a child, and got married. But, those are indeed the blessings God gave me this year! :) In 2011, I will graduate, publish another book, have a beautiful daughter, and be married for 1 year to the love of my life. I don't know what I did to deserve the good things He gave me, but I hope He knows how absolutely thankful I am. This has been a life changing year and I couldn't be happier <3

I can't believe how ridiculous I was on New Years.. in all of the excitement, I didn't take pictures :( But anywho, we went to Carol's house and visited for a few and then we went to my parent's house :) Mom was so sweet and made us taco dip and sloppy joes! I love spending time with my parents :) And since I didn't take pics.. well, here's a picture of Ethan and me at my parent's house LOL

And I have to say-- I wore the bracelet my mom and dad purchased me for Christmas today :) How pretty is it? I LOVE LOVE LOVE it.

And once we came home, we cuddled up and watched "Taking of Pelham 123" :) It was SUCH a good movie! I love Denzel Washington :)

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All About Alyssa

Alyssa

I'm just a simple 29 year old mommy that wants to change the world. God is my heartbeat- I've been blessed beyond measure. I am married to my best friend, Ethan, and we have three gorgeous babies that are (5) (3), and (1) I'm disorganized, clumsy, and often forgetful. I prefer salts to sweets. I have an unhealthy obsession with buying movies and books. Life is a gift and I certainly don't intend on wasting it.